long live the dead
by xfucktheglasses
Summary: You were such a pretty girl, 'til I sealed your fate.


For Gruvia Week.

**long live the dead**

He gulps for air, standing on the fire escape and willing the window to open. But pushing an already stubborn window up with just one hand, while the other holds a gun at the ready, is rather difficult. He presses his lips together, using all his strength to push it up enough for him to be able to slide in.

He dips down, straddling the windowsill as he looks around with narrowed eyes down at the dead-end and out the mouth of the alley where the street glowed orange with the streetlight. He runs a hand down the length of his face and sneaks inside, closing the window with more ease than what he had while he attempted to open it.

After this, there are thirty minutes before Gray Fullbuster is found and gunned down. Those thirty minutes go like this:

He blends in with the shadows, swiping the back of his unoccupied hand, and ruffling his stringy forelocks. He yanks open a door and slips inside, back against the wooden surface, hand never letting go of the knob until it is silently in place. Gray hears a gasp, then, and as he snaps his head towards the direction as he realizes that the owner of the apartment is, in fact, home.

She's standing in the middle of the room, wearing nothing but violet tights and holding a dark shirt against her exposed chest. Her eyes are navy blue and wide with fear, short, spiky blue hair disheveled and Gray slowly raises a hand and presses his forefinger against his lips.

"What—"

He pulls at the gun's hammer and points the gun at her, finger still pressed against his lips as he shakes his head.

Outside, the streets are dead and quiet. Anything can be carried out by the wind and into the ears of his pursuers. Gray can't let that happen.

He moves away from the door, taking slow steps towards the girl, his hands still in the same position. He eyes her every movement—the way her throat constricts as she swallows, the way her lashes entangle with every blink, the gloss of fear that make her eyes shine and the way her lips keep forming words she cannot voice out.

Gray stands in front of her, half-an inch of space in between them. She looks up at him as he towers over her and he forgets to breathe as he tries to figure out what to do in this situation.

She's seen him, his gun—she's involved by just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he leaves her apartment to further distance himself from his enemies, she can be asked questions and his cover can be blown. A side of him comments that she can also be killed—but that should not be his problem.

"What's your name?" he asks, soft and slow.

She shakes her head and Gray smirks at her good call. He nudges his chin, pressing the barrel of his gun against her forehead.

He knows she's given up by the way she cowers, eyes closed and tears sticking to her thick lashes.

"J-Juvia," she breathes out. "My name i-is Juvia."

Gray nods. "Well, Juvia. Looks like you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. By seeing me, you've officially involved yourself."

She gasps, shaking her head, mouth ajar.

"Now, I can kill you right now and end that threat to me," he tilts his head, eyes running up and down her figure before adding, "or you can put that shirt on and come with me."

"I—I… What…?"

"Hurry up," he says, turning to look at the door over his back.

He hears shuffling and he moves his gun as she slides the shirt down her torso and slips her boots on. Gray nods and makes for her window, cursing under his breath at the lack of a fire escape. He opens the window, quickly adding that the fall would likely mess at least one of his legs up. He turns back to face Juvia, asking, "Is there another way out that is not the front door?"

She stares at him, tears dried away by the back of her hands. "The back door—it leads to the parking lot and the garbage room."

"Lead the way."

She gulps, turning around and walking out the room and further down the hall. Gray walks with his gun ready to fire—silently, he wonders where Natsu and Erza went and if they found Lucy. He hopes they aren't in the same position he is—with death hovering behind him, waiting for the right moment to tap his shoulder and suck him in.

What a way to go, he decides, smirking at his misfortune.

Juvia opens a door after passing something like a small den, a kitchen and a storage room. She leads him down wooden stairs and her steps are quick and quiet; he admires this and wonders if he's actually going to make it out alive after this and what he will do with her if he does. But he clears his mind, yet again, and follows her as she tries to open the gates with nervous hands.

Out in the open, Gray grabs her wrist and makes sure they're walking with the shadows curled around them. Slowly, slowly, he makes their speed pick up until they are sprinting down the streets, making sharp crooked turns and further distancing themselves from the hot spots.

"Where are we going?" Juvia asks in a whisper as they hide in the shadows of another alley.

Gray studies the streets with narrowed eyes. "I'm not sure yet."

If he can find a car, he can get out of the city until all of this dies down. Get Natsu and them to go find him and perhaps leave Juvia to continue on with her life, there. Or something. God, he didn't fucking know—he never thinks ahead and settles to just going with the moment.

Time passes and they've zig-zagged through half of the city of Magnolia. That's when they are found and Gray curses, yanking Juvia and sprinting down the streets. Bullets sped by around them and the fact that none have hit them is pure chance. Juvia is biting her lip, next to him, to keep from screaming and he honestly feels horrible for involving her.

"C'mon," he growls, yanking her into a parking lot.

Gray can hear them, behind them and he begins to criss-cross through the cars, bent forwards so he won't tower over the hood of the cars. His hand around her wrist is sweaty and the only reason his hold hasn't slipped is because of his nails digging into her pale skin.

While running, he keeps pulling at the different car doors, trying to find one that has been left unlocked. Once Juvia realizes what he's doing, she starts mimicking his actions as well until Gray lets go of her hand so they can cover more cars. He's breathing through his mouth, heartbeat escalating to ungodly levels and adrenaline overflowing his veins; he looks up every now and then, watching his enemies search for him, moving through the cars like a maze.

It takes another while before Gray gives up and breaks a window; owner must be cheap, he thinks in the back of his head, there is no alarm to go off at the first step of grand theft auto. Not that he minds, he adds, opening the door and swiping the broken glass off the seat.

The next instances are a blur—he hotwires the car, cables slipping from his grip from the sticky blood on his hand. But when the car comes to life, Juvia climbs and moves to the passenger's seat and he all but throws himself inside, reversing out of the parking space and making his way towards the exit.

His pursuers find them; running and shooting until just about all the windows are shattered. One of the men—a bulky one with blond hair and a squared face—stops in front of them, gun ready to shoot. Gray gives him no time as the tires of the car screech and he drives right at him. The bump sends them smacking their heads against the doors, but Gray pays no mind to it.

"We did it," Juvia says, shocked and ready to pass out.

Gray doesn't say a word, picking up his speed as he watches two thinner blond men and a dark-haired one run after them, guns still pointing. The tires screech against the concrete, again, as he makes a wild turn. A black SUV comes into view and Gray isn't given the time to even attempt to stop, cursing as he watches the windows open and more men poke their upper half out, guns pointing right at them.

"LOOK OUT," Juvia screeches.

Gunshots swallow her screams.

The car is flipped over.


End file.
